Photographic-paper holder



March 11 1924. 1,486,196

C. H. RUFFNER PHOTOGRAPHIG PAPER HOLDER Filed June 25. 1920 2She'ets-Shet 1 WITNESSES:

MMmazmE l E March 11 1924. 1,486,196

' c. H. RUFFNER PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER HOLDER Filed June 25. 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 2 if; E

' WITNESSES: INVENTORS.

' Id zafizez;

ATTORINEIYS.

Patented Mar. 11,1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLIFFORD H. RUFFNER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EASTMAN KODAKCOMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, .A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIC-IAPER HOLDER.

Application filed June 25, 1820. Serial No. 391,770.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that .I, CLIFFORD H. RUFF- NER, citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State ofNew York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements inPhotographic-Paper Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact specification.

This invention relates to photography,

and more particularly to paper holders adapted to hold a sheet of paperor other material flat for copying or enlarging. Since the presentpreferred embodiment of my invention is particularly adapted for use inholding photographically sensitive paper flat for enlarging, I shalldescribe such an application of it by way of illustration.

An object of my invention is to provide a simple and eflicient boardupon which a sheet of paper can be held flat; another object is toprovide a board of the kind described in which a gauge positions thesheet of material so that it will be held flat in the correct position;another object is to provide a frame for holding the paper fiat by itsedges; still another object is to provide a frame which will mask oflportions of the paper, and to provide adjustments whereby various sizedmasks are quickly made; a further object is to provide a con nectionbetween the relatively moving parts which will form a substantial andeasily movable support for one of the parts; a still further object isto provide 9. mar 'n gauge which can be readily adjusted. Ot er objectswill hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like characters designate likeparts throughout:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a. preferred embodiment of my invention inoperative position;

.Fig. '2 is a plan view of the board shown in Fig. 1 with the maskingdevice raised for loadin Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in section throughone of the masking members on line 33 of Fig. 1, and through the margingauge and board on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a. perspective view of the margin gauge used with my preferreddevice; Fig. 5 is a plan of the corner of the board with the maskingunit removed, showing -Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of one of theslides.

The base of the preferred form of my paper holder consists of a board 1,having a series of slots 2 across the length of the board, and a shorterset of slots 3 extending partially across the Width of the board. In thedrawings these slots are shown as being spaced one-quarter of an inchapart so that enlargement can be masked with a border any multiple of aquarter of an inch up to the capacity of the board, in this case two andthree-quarter inches. These sio'ts, of course, can be made as close oras far apart as desired.

In my preferred form the margin gauge itself consists of a right-angularor L shaped member 4, having an overturned flange 5 along one side. Asshown in Fig. 3, the height of this gauge is considerably more than thedepth of the slots 2 and 3 so that the top of the gauge and the flange 5are spaced from the top of the board 1. This is desirable because itgreatly facilitates handling the gauge, to move it from one slot toanother. An additional advantage is that it makes the loading mucheasier than it would otherwise be, because bromide paper, which ischiefly used for enlarging, has a tendency to curl, so that when a sheetis loaded into the frame, the flange 5 being spaced some distance fromthe board 1, enables the operator to easily slide one end of the curvedsheet under the flange,v where it will be clamped by the masking framewhich will be hereinafter described.

As shown in the enlar ed plan at Fig. 5, there is an opening 6 ormed bycutting away the walls of the slots 2 and 3 at the place where theyintersect. In this opening there is a scale 7 for slots 2 and a scale 8for the slots 3, here shown as graduated into one-quarter inch units.The margin gauge 4 can be readily adjusted for the desired margin byplacing in any one of the slots 2 and 3.

To clamp the paper flat against board 1 and to mask ofi a portion ofthesheet there is a right angular or L shaped member designated generallyas 10, having one arm 11 hinged at 12 to the board 1, t e other arm 13being aflixed to arm 11 and extending between the top at right anglesthereto. The hinges 12 are placed on top of board 1 so that the end'14:of board 1 forms a stop against which the outer edge 14' of arm 11 mayrest when in raised position, thus limiting its rotative movement toslightly more than ninety degrees, and conveniently holding frame 10erect in open position. Each of-the arms 11 and 13 have an undercut or Tshaped slot 15 cut in their upper sides. Arm 11 has a carriage 16sliding in slot 15, carrying a supporting bracket 17 for a masking andclamping arm 18.

The carriage 16 has an inverted T shaped body less in width than slot15, so that a bowed spring 71 having its ends 72 inserted in slots 73 inthe body 70 of the slide will keep one edge 74 in contact with one sideof slot 15, (Fig. 6). This construction keeps the carriage firmly inproper alinement with arm 11 and at the same time allows it to be freelymoved through slot 15. Bracket 17 is here shown as being riveted to theend of mask 18, the inner end 19' of the mask extending under member 11being supported by a rail 19 made by bending down a metal plate 20, withwhich member 11 is faced. The masking member 18 is, therefore, supportedfrom above, by bracket 17 and from below by the rail 19, so that whenthe frame 10 is raised the masking arm will easily stand the strain ofbeing moved from one end by the frame. The carriage 16 is also providedwith a handle 21 and a pointer 22 which cooperates with a scale 23 uponmember 11, to enable the mask to be readily set to the desired size. Arm13 has a similar mask member 28 supported by a bracket 27 carried on aslide 26, and running on a rail 29 which is a part of the metal plate 30fastened to the inner edge of arm 13. Slide 26 is identical inconstruction to slide 16 hereinbefore described. The handle 31 andpointer 32 also have the same functions as those described in connectionwith slide 16.

The scale 33 is shorter than scale 23 as mask 28 is considerably longerthan the maskin late 18 in the embodiment herein describe he weight ofthe clamping mask '10 is sufficient to hold a sheet of paper P flatagainst board 1. The rails 19 and 29 space the bottoms of arms 11 and1.3 from the board a distance approximately equal to the distance of theboard and the flange 5, so that the gauge may be moved to any positioninside of these rails. This construction also causes the masking clamp10 to clam all around the edge of a sheet of paper thus holding it flat.The flange 5 of uge 4 being spaced from the board 1 makes oading -verysimple, as the limits within which the paper may be placed are quiteconsiderable. One edge of the pa r is rested against an ed of gauge 4,wh' e it is moved toward and t on under flange 5 after which the frame10 is lowered to clamp it in position. Paper coated with photographicemulsion has a tendency to curl, and the flange 5 assists in holding anedge of the paper while it is being inserted. If the paper were advancedflatwise toward the margin gauge, the front edge would possibly beelevated so as to miss the gauge and slide over it, so the user liftsthe rear edge of the paper, sliding the front edge along until itcontacts the gauge and is held by the flange. Then the sheet is laidflat and clamped in position.

The operation of my device is as follows: Assuming an enlargement ten bysixteen and one-quarter inches is to be made, masking arms'l8 and 28 aremoved by handles 21 and 31 until the pointers 22 and 32 indicate theproper position on the scales 23 and 33 as shown in Fig. 1. If an inchborder is desired, the gauge 4; is set in slots 2 and 3 opposite the 1mark on scales 7 and 8. A sheet of paper P is then slid along one railof gauge 4, the operator holding one end of the sheet raised, until anedge slides under flange 5 contacting with gauge 4. After releasin thepaper, frame 10 is lowered until the mas ing strips 18 and 28 lie on thepaper. The rails 19 and 29 press also upon the edges of the pa er, for,although a thickness of the metal 0. strips 18 and 28 lie between therail and the paper for a small portion of their length, this dimensionis so small that the contact is practically uniform throughout thelength of the rail. In Fig. 3 for instance, the thickness of the maskingstrip 29' is exaggerated in the drawing to make the construction clear,the metal being actuall only a'few thousandths of an inch thick.

li rom the foregoing description it will appear that I have invented asimple paper holder which can be dled in a dark room, an one whic willhold a sheet of paper flat upon a board. While I have described myinvention as a paper holder for enlarging, articularly adapted for usewith vertical en arging machines, I do not wish to confine myself tothis use, since the'principles of my invention can readily be of aperholders.

ving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bromide paper holder the combination of a. base, with an Lshaped margin gauge, the base having slots extendin om one cornerparallel to the sides 0 the base, the L shaped gauge being adapted tofit selectively into an of the slots to vary the position of the romidepaper relative to the base.

2. In a. holder for sheet material, the combination of a slotted basewith an L shaped margin gauge movable over the base into applied toother typea quickl and easil han operative positions in the slots, atflange on one part of the gauge, another part of the gauge being adaptedto guide a .sheet of material being placed on the base, and the firstmentioned part of the gauge being adapted to confine an edge of thesheet material within operative limits.

3. In a holder for sheet material, the com bination of a slotted base, amar 'n gauge adapted to be selectively placed in any of the slots, and aclamping arm overlying said gauge, and adapted to contact the base andclamp sheet material thereagainst.

4. In a holder for sheetmaterialthe combination of a slotted base, amargin gauge adapted to be selectively placed in any of the slots, saidgauge having a flange overhanging the base, and a clamping arm overlyingsaid gauge and adapted to contact the base and to clamp sheet materialthereagainst.

5. In a paper holder, the combination of a base, with a series of slotsextending across the top of the base, a reduced portion at one end ofthe slots, and slot identifying means located therein.

6.- In a paper holder, the combination of a base, with slotted areasextending along the top of the base in two directions, a cutaway portionlocated at the lace where the slotted areas would norma y intersect,

and a scale located in the cutaway portion,

for identifying the various slots,

7. In a holder for sheets of sensitized paper, the combination of a basehaving two series of slots, of side and bottom walls for the slots, oneseries of slots being angularly disposed with reference to the otherseries of slots, and a margin gauge adapted to be positioned by sidewall of a slot W of each series of slots and beii'ig supported by abottom wall,

8. In a holder for paper, the combination of a base slotted in twodirections, with side and bottom walls for the slot and an L shapedmargin gauge adapted to be positioned by walls of the slots, the sidewalls of the slots embracing the sides of a margin gauge to position thegauge, and the bottom walls supporting the gauge, so that a part thereofwill project" from the base.

9. In a holder for paper, the combination of a slotted base, side andbottom walls for the slots, with a margin gauge, said margin gauge beingadapted to fit into a slot and consisting of a flat metal strip, theside walls of the slot engaging the sides of the metal strip to hold iterect, the gauge being supported by a bottom wall.

10. In a holder for paper, the combination of a slotted base, side wallsto the slots, and a margin gauge adapted to be positioned in the slots,the margin gauge being made of strip material of greater width than thedepth" of the side walls of the slots.

Signed at Rochester, New York, this 18th day of June 1920.

CLIFFQRI) H. RUFFNER.

